Ryan White Title IV Women, Infants, Children, Youth and Affected Family Members AIDS Healthcare - Cook County Health (CCH), through the Cook County HIV Integrated Program (CCHIP), requests $1,870,965 in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Part D funding to provide comprehensive, coordinated HIV services to women, infants, children, and youth (WICY) with HIV and affected family members throughout the HRSA-designated Chicago EMA within Cook County. The Chicago EMA continues to experience a disproportionate burden of HIV and persistent racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities. Black women remain disproportionately affected by HIV, while Hispanic women represent a growing proportion of WICY living with HIV. Adolescents and young adults, pregnant and postpartum women, and WICY experiencing poverty, housing instability, transportation barriers, behavioral health needs, substance use disorders, intimate partner violence, insurance instability, and HIV-related stigma remain at increased risk for delayed linkage, interruptions in care, and poor HIV health outcomes. Although CCHIP achieves strong antiretroviral therapy utilization and viral suppression outcomes among WICY engaged in care, gaps in timely linkage, retention, and sustained viral suppression demonstrate the continued need for intensive, family-centered interventions. Through the Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, CCHIP will provide an integrated, family-centered system of HIV care that includes outpatient HIV primary medical care; rapid linkage and re-engagement services; treatment adherence counseling; women's health, prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum services; pediatric and adolescent HIV care; youth transition services; medical case management; behavioral health and outpatient substance use services; medical nutrition therapy; oral health care; patient navigation; benefits and medication access assistance; non-emergency medical transportation; and referrals to specialty and supportive services. Multidisciplinary care coordination, bilingual and culturally responsive services, low-barrier access, telehealth, community-based strategic partnerships, peer support, and clinical quality management activities will support engagement across the HIV care continuum. The proposed project will prioritize WICY who are newly diagnosed, out of care, not medically retained, or not virally suppressed, with focused interventions for Black and Hispanic women, adolescents and young adults, pregnant and postpartum women, and families experiencing health-related social needs. CCHIP will leverage CCH's integrated public safety-net health system, experienced multidisciplinary HIV workforce, clinical and data infrastructure, peer services, and community partnerships to improve linkage to care, retention, treatment adherence, viral suppression, and equitable health outcomes for WICY and families affected by HIV.
